


Moebius

by NEStar



Category: Sanditon (TV 2019), Sanditon - Jane Austen
Genre: 6 Sanditon Valentines, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/M, Time Travel Fix-It, Tumblr: Sanditon Creative
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22660084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NEStar/pseuds/NEStar
Summary: While visiting an inventor's workshop an explosion sends Sidney back in time to the day he first met Miss Haywood. Is this just a dream or has he been granted a second chance?
Relationships: Charlotte Heywood/Sidney Parker
Comments: 20
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

The sunlight filtered in through the large windows, throwing the great machine that sat in the center of the room into bright relief. Sidney stared at it for a moment, while behind him Mr. Carter was talking about the effects of gravity on clockwork gears and the role of friction combined to make regular clocks slow down. “But this, gentlemen, is a totally new concept!”

The firm of O'Neil and Carter was looking for investors - and while Sidney himself didn’t have any money to put in, he was still willing to go along with Crowe and see the process.

Carter continued to speak enthusiastically to Crowe and the other gentlemen about the process, something to do with spinning liquid, but Sidney was more interested by the sight of the contraption. The main component was a gently rotating ring that was tall enough for a man to walk through. There was a faint hum that filled the room, something felt more than heard, from the moment they had entered but now… Sidney stepped closer, yes, it was changing pitch.

"Sir! Step back!"

Sidney barely had a chance to register the shout before a sudden explosion of blue light burst out of the ring, fully enclosing him in the strangest sensation.

* * *

"Parker! Parker!"

"Blast this, if he's not even up then why the devil am I?"

Sidney felt as if a hard wave had struck him and he was struggling to break the surface. His head spun, everything seemed blurry and distorted, and the voices around him we're muffled.

"Parker!"

That was in perfect clarity. 

"What happened?" he asked.

"I'd say at least three bottles of brandy by the state of you." Crowe answered.

"What? Brandy?" Sidney tried to understand what Crowe was talking about. "No, the clock. Something happened with the clock."

"That might explain why you're still abed at half after eight," Babington said, "when you pressed so greatly to be on the road by eight."

When had Babington arrived and what was he talking about?

"On the road?"

"Good Lord!" Crowe exclaimed, "If he can't be bothered to be sober for this trip then why should I? Call me when he's ready to leave."

Sidney tried once again to fill in the gaps but failed. "Where are we going?"

Babington chuckled, "Not really the way to sell this, Parker. Sanditon, the first ball at the new Assembly Rooms, you were going to show us the construction. Does any of this make sense?"

The first ball at the Assembly Rooms? But that had been four months ago.

"Not in the least, but why should that stop me?" he said as he stood up and went to get dressed.


	2. Chapter 2

Sidney spent the drive down trying to decide if this was real, some kind of hallucination, or even (in a darker moment) an elaborate trick played by his friends.

The last thing he could remember before he woke up to this insanity was the workshop. The men there were building a new kind of clock, could it be possible?

If it was - as impossible as that sounds. If it was real then…

He could stop the fire.

He could save his brother's good name, he could save Stringer's father, he could…

A string of regrets, mostly centered on Charlotte, flashed through his mind.   


He could fix them all.

* * *

He failed right out of the gate.

The first time he met Charlotte was as she and Mary were walking along the cliffs. This time he made the trip to his brother's house without seeing anyone.

Tom presented the ever confident face, but with his hindsight Sidney could see the stress that carried in the line of his brother's shoulders.

It wouldn't do to take a sudden extreme interest in the project but if he asked some key questions now and built up more over the next few weeks, then…

Old Stringer, there had been that accident. Maybe that could be avoided too.

When had that happened? He tried to recall the timeline of events as he left the office and made his way to the door. When he got back to the Crown he would need to write it out. The accident had been after Crowe and Babington left, so he had a little time to -

He was so lost in thought that he hadn't heard the sounds of the front door opening and had walked right into Charlotte.

Charlotte, with her eyes bright, chest heaving slightly, and her lips parted in surprise.

He was staring like a fool, but suddenly couldn't think of a thing to say.

"Sidney?" Mary's voice brought him back to himself.

"Mary! Did you have a pleasant time at Lady D's?" He asked.

"Indeed," she said, a small furrow in her forehead appearing as she glanced at Charlotte. "And so did our guest, Miss Heywood."

Sidney turned to look at Charlotte again, "Ah, yes. Miss Heywood, so sorry. I was careless."

"Of course," came her soft reply.

"Well, I'd like to chat but I left some friends at the Crown and I don't want them to think they've been abandoned."

He quickly stepped past Charlotte and out the door. Once back at the hotel he sat down heavily and let the shock run through him.

He could do this. He could make things better.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Tumblr for writing updates, snippets, and other stuff.
> 
> Palis-delon.tumblr.com/tagged/naomi-writes


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